Soups after a birth › Later in the month
Pig's trotter in sweetened black vinegar with ginger and eggs
The tradition usually waits until about day 12
“Now we cook you something good.”
What the tradition says
Practitioners state that this is 補血養氣、驅風散寒、活血散瘀、下乳, that ginger dispels wind-cold, that pork and egg supplement qi and blood, and that sweet vinegar 通過醋來助陰、活血散瘀. 坐月薑醋 is on the Hong Kong Intangible Cultural Heritage inventory, and the 派薑醋 custom of distributing pots to relatives and friends from 十二朝 to announce a birth is a live Cantonese practice; this is a documentary fact about a government register, never clinical evidence about a body.
After a caesarean
Practitioners move this to days 20 to 30 after a caesarean, against roughly day 7 to 14 after a vaginal birth.
Ingredientsserves 2
Method
- Peel and cut old ginger, then dry-fry in a dry wok until the moisture is off.
- Boil the sweet vinegar, add the fried ginger, simmer 30 minutes, then stand the vinegar 4 to 5 days minimum to mature.
- Blanch and cut the trotter. Hard-boil and shell the eggs.
- Bring the matured ginger vinegar back to the boil, add the trotter, low heat 2 hours, add the eggs, boil, kill the heat, steep several hours.
Also cooked then
Information only. This page records a food tradition and is not medical advice. Recovery differs for everyone. If you are breastfeeding, recovering from a caesarean, taking medication, or feeling unwell, speak to your doctor, midwife or a registered practitioner first. Full statement